IMPLICATIONS OF AUSTRALIAN PRICE CONTROL REJECTION

Wanganui Chronicle, 1 June 1948, Page 5

IMPLICATIONS OF AUSTRALIAN PRICE CONTROL REJECTION

1+ Shows That Man In Street Has Had Enough Of Socialism

(From C. R. Mcntiplay, Special Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) Received 8.10 p.m. SYDNEY, May 31 The decisive defeat of the Federal Government’s bid for permanent control over prices, rents and charges, is being interpreted by both sides as a vote against bureaucracy rather than against the Labour Government.

Even the most optimistic Liberal supporter is not prepared to believe that the citizens voted on party lines. The general feeling is best expressed by Mr. E. J. Holloway, Federal Minister for Labour who, scorning recriminations and challenges indulged in by other Labour members, said:

“This overwhelming vote shows the deep-seated hostility of the man in the street to peacetime control by any Government. The people seem to prefer to risk exploitation rather than submit to continued controls.” -

This courageous statement implies recognition by a considerable section of the Australian Labour Party of a fact that the Labour policy of socialisation and nationalisation is becoming increasingly unpopular. A constitutional lawyer, Dr. Frank Louat, takes matters a step further when he says: “These referendum figures are the Chifley Government s second chance to learn the lesson it failed to grasp from the Victorian election. The flat refusal by the people means that Australians have already had as much socialism as they are prepared to stand. “Today there is a sharpening world-wide issue between the defenders of individual freedom and those who believe in herd management of human beings. There

is no halfway house between these two ways of living, and the figures show that Australians have made up their minds where they stand."

Observers believe that the Government was in a particularly strong position a year ago, but that, by one move after another, it has lost a great deal of support. The permanent Government control of prices has been sought and lost twice before, and there is a considerable body of opinion that the question should not have been asked again when such an important issue as the Federal Government control of banking was not referred to the people. Events on the industrial front have presented a spectacle of the Government standing by while the waterslders dictate points of foreign policy, and extremists deny coal, power and transport to large sections. The action by Mr. Holloway In Victoria and by the Queensland Labour Premier (Mr. Hanlon) has demonstrated that Governments can still successfully intervene in illegal strikes. The feeling is growing that the Canberra politicians are losing touch with their electors. Apart from that, there is a strong feeling that 'with the revenue bounding to record levels, taxation is much too high. It is apparent that the referendum reverse has brought home these facts to some at least of the Government members.